With a dodgeball, a sandpit and some creativity, a handful of Washington Township High School students are doing their best to make a difference in their community.

Part of the high school’s “Students in Action” club, a group of students were literally in action on Friday afternoon as they held a “Gaga” tournament at Hurffville Elementary, a game the students remember from their days in elementary school, as part of their upcoming “Wild Week of Service.”

The rules are simple: You can only hit, not carry or hold the ball. If you’re hit below the waist, you’re out, and the last person standing wins. It’s kind of similar to a big, chaotic dodge ball game where the participants jump, scramble and collide to stay in the game.

It’s a favorite pastime of the teens, so it made perfect sense to them to incorporate it into Students in Action’s Week of Service and have participants contribute a donation to go head-to-head in the chaotic game.

“It’s original, fun and gets people involved,” said Students in Action member and high school junior Dom Gagliardi, who helped organize the event.

The club isn’t the only one of its kind, as Students in Action is a leadership program open to all high schools in the state. Local Students in Action clubs meet, discuss their community service actions and plans, and individual work to create new, original community service initiatives.

Through events like their Gaga tournament, their upcoming video game olympics and their outreach via social media, the students in Washington Township’s Students in Action club have been able to draw more students into the club, said its community adviser, Board of Education Member Josh Aronovitch. The new participants are now getting involved in helping the club compile its comprehensive report on all of its service activities.

Not the least of which is an online-based, community service scavenger hunt they’re holding this week, where teams are challenged to complete volunteering tasks such as volunteering at a house of worship, feeding the homeless, donating hair to the Beautiful Lengths campaign, cheering for powder puff, walking at the Buddy Walk, volunteering through ROTC and many more. The teams tweet photos of their participation to Students in Action’s twitter, @twpsia, hash tagged #WWWS and the winners will snag some special prizes to be announced.

The scavenger hunt, games and other fundraisers are just the beginning, the students said. While it’s a new activity for many of them, since it’s only in its second year, the Students in Action are looking to expand and improve their service activities next year, and hopefully make an even bigger impact locally.

“We want it to not just be in Washington Township or a few other schools,” Dom said. “We want to make it a whole South Jersey thing.”